Find more articles on Health and Wellness by Clicking Here!.Trauma and chronic stress create similar biological responses in the body. Both activate our biological stress response, which our autonomic nervous system (the fight, flight, freeze system) recognizes as a threat. Our physiology automatically responds to help us survive any information our biology perceives as threatening. Chronic stress can feel overwhelming for both our minds and bodies, leading our physiology to recognize it as a threat. This is essentially what trauma is: events that overwhelm our capacity to process experiences. When our systems reach a point where they can no longer process or metabolize these experiences, our biological systems— including our nervous system—become dysregulated. This dysregulation can create imbalances in our emotional and mental states, as well as illness in our bodies. Somatic healing helps to restore regulation in our biological systems, facilitating a return to health..(VIDEO) SOULIVITY TODAY "Empowering Your Dreams with Somatic Healing” with IFÉ MORA, Somatic Healer.What is Somatic Healing?Somatic healing is a therapeutic method that emphasizes awareness of the body in the present moment and the here and now. It is a mind-body-oriented therapy, (meaning looking to the body for healing) that employs a bottom-up approach, focusing on the body as a source of healing rather than solely on cognition and mindset. This practice operates in the here and now, and because it is mind-body oriented, it can also incorporate a top-down approach when beneficial.Somatic healing also helps individuals cultivate a sense of safety in their bodies, creating a relative container of safety that allows them to begin perceiving safety in their surroundings. This sense of safety is crucial for facilitating healing. As this process unfolds, individuals often develop a greater curiosity about their environment and experience reduced fear. They can feel secure enough to explore activities that once felt threatening..There is also a touch component in somatic healing, specifically within the modality of Somatic Experiencing developed by Dr. Peter Levine. This touch work aids in regulating the eight diaphragms of the body, which support the coherence of the organs, fascia, muscles, and bones. It also helps release bound survival energy from trauma that may be stored in the joints, diaphragms, muscles, and organs. By facilitating the release and regulation of this survival energy, touch work contributes to restoring balance within various systems of the body, including the immune and digestive systems, as well as the autonomic nervous system (the fight, flight, freeze system), heart rate variability, and blood pressure.One such diaphragm is the pelvic floor, also known as the pelvic bowl. When we experience stress or a threat response, we tend to constrict our pelvic floor. As a result, many people hold stress and trauma in this area, leading to various conditions and syndromes affecting the pelvis, reproductive system, and urinary system. When somatic practitioners work with these areas through touch (with the client’s permission), it helps the body stop constricting, feel seen, expand, release stored survival trauma energy, and regulate. This touch-based work can assist in reorganizing the body’s systems to function more coherently, ultimately supporting the client’s healing process..How does Somatic Healing relate to our Nervous System and Biological System Regulation?Somatic healing focuses on how trauma and chronic stress negatively impact the body and brain, particularly how they dysregulate the autonomic nervous system—the system responsible for fight, flight, or freeze responses, also referred to as survival physiology. The autonomic nervous system controls essential functions like heart rate, breathing, and organ function. It is our lifeline, always operating and responding to stress and threats automatically to help us survive.Because this system is biological, it adapts over time, becoming a reflexive way of managing stress, often based on past experiences or unconscious socialization. We typically handle stress in ways that have worked before for us or in ways we’ve been conditioned to respond. Additionally, we learn to manage stress from our caregivers, whose nervous systems, often unconsciously, influence how children develop their own stress responses..How does Somatic Healing help us in Building Capacity and Resilience?Trauma fragments us and keeps us stuck in survival physiology (fight, flight, freeze), where fear and a sense of unsafety take over. As mentioned earlier, trauma and chronic stress dysregulate our nervous system. However, they also affect other biological systems. For example, the immune, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems can all be negatively impacted, throwing our entire biological organism into dysregulation due to the chronic stress and trauma stored in the body.When our stress response is activated, our bodies and brains release stress hormones and neurotransmitters that help mobilize us into fight or flight to survive a potential threat. The main stress hormone is cortisol, while the key neurotransmitters are epinephrine and norepinephrine, also known as adrenaline. These chemicals increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels and are released into the bloodstream when a threat is perceived..To respond to the threat, the body automatically pulls resources from systems like the immune system and redirects energy to the musculoskeletal system to prepare for fleeing or fighting. The body interprets stress as a threat. While these biochemicals are designed to work in harmony with our physiology in the short term, prolonged secretion can become problematic. Over time, this can wreak havoc on the body, leading to overproduction of inflammation, which results in chronic pain, syndromes, illnesses, and disease.Trauma is, therefore, physiological and stored in the body, meaning that healing trauma must focus on the body, not solely the mind, as was previously believed. In somatic healing, the practitioner guides the client to gradually reconnect with their body, creating a sense of relative safety. The practitioner helps the client identify resourceful areas of the body that can support the healing of parts where survival energy is stuck and has caused dysregulation and rigidity.Additionally, the practitioner assists the individual in building the capacity to tolerate intense sensations that may feel too uncomfortable to confront and be with, as well as emotions that seem overwhelming or frightening. By guiding the individual somatically, the practitioner fosters more flexibility in the person's system, allowing them to feel safer..With a few months of consistent work—since healing should be slow and deliberate to avoid retraumatization—the individual becomes more curious and able to engage with uncomfortable sensations and emotions. This process helps them develop greater resilience and heal the parts of themselves that were stuck, shut down, or locked in survival physiology, that stayed in the familiar and developed maladaptive and destructive patterns..Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, studied animals in the wild to understand how they manage the constant stress of being prey or having to fight off predators. He discovered that the physiology of these animals becomes charged up and activated with the biological stress/threat response of fight, flight, or freeze. If the animal cannot fight or flee, then the organism shuts down into freeze but with the same intense charge until it receives a biological cue that the threat has passed. Once the threat is gone, the organism (or animal) metabolizes the charged survival energy through shaking and trembling, a process known as discharge. Humans require a similar type of discharge after experiencing overwhelming threats, including crying, yawning or laughing. When survival energy gets stuck in the body and is not discharged, it creates Trauma..How does Somatic Healing help with Triggers?Trauma keeps people frozen in time, causing them to relive the traumatic experience repeatedly and unconsciously whenever they encounter a sensation, smell, or feeling that reminds the body or brain of the event. This phenomenon is known as a trigger. Triggers activate the stress/threat response in the body each time the person is exposed to them.Somatic healing assists biological systems in processing, metabolizing, discharging, and releasing stored survival energy that has been held in the body over the long term. This process helps restore nervous system regulation, allowing individuals to return to a healthier baseline and their own personal homeostasis..SPECIAL OFFER FROM IFÉ MORA!Go to her website’s “let’s chat” contact page and sign up to be in touch with her. She will send you a FREE Somatic Meditation that will help them to begin understanding how to self-regulate their nervous system!.CLICK HERE TO GO TO HER CONTACT PAGE AND SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE SOMATIC MEDITATION FROM IFÉ MORA!
Find more articles on Health and Wellness by Clicking Here!.Trauma and chronic stress create similar biological responses in the body. Both activate our biological stress response, which our autonomic nervous system (the fight, flight, freeze system) recognizes as a threat. Our physiology automatically responds to help us survive any information our biology perceives as threatening. Chronic stress can feel overwhelming for both our minds and bodies, leading our physiology to recognize it as a threat. This is essentially what trauma is: events that overwhelm our capacity to process experiences. When our systems reach a point where they can no longer process or metabolize these experiences, our biological systems— including our nervous system—become dysregulated. This dysregulation can create imbalances in our emotional and mental states, as well as illness in our bodies. Somatic healing helps to restore regulation in our biological systems, facilitating a return to health..(VIDEO) SOULIVITY TODAY "Empowering Your Dreams with Somatic Healing” with IFÉ MORA, Somatic Healer.What is Somatic Healing?Somatic healing is a therapeutic method that emphasizes awareness of the body in the present moment and the here and now. It is a mind-body-oriented therapy, (meaning looking to the body for healing) that employs a bottom-up approach, focusing on the body as a source of healing rather than solely on cognition and mindset. This practice operates in the here and now, and because it is mind-body oriented, it can also incorporate a top-down approach when beneficial.Somatic healing also helps individuals cultivate a sense of safety in their bodies, creating a relative container of safety that allows them to begin perceiving safety in their surroundings. This sense of safety is crucial for facilitating healing. As this process unfolds, individuals often develop a greater curiosity about their environment and experience reduced fear. They can feel secure enough to explore activities that once felt threatening..There is also a touch component in somatic healing, specifically within the modality of Somatic Experiencing developed by Dr. Peter Levine. This touch work aids in regulating the eight diaphragms of the body, which support the coherence of the organs, fascia, muscles, and bones. It also helps release bound survival energy from trauma that may be stored in the joints, diaphragms, muscles, and organs. By facilitating the release and regulation of this survival energy, touch work contributes to restoring balance within various systems of the body, including the immune and digestive systems, as well as the autonomic nervous system (the fight, flight, freeze system), heart rate variability, and blood pressure.One such diaphragm is the pelvic floor, also known as the pelvic bowl. When we experience stress or a threat response, we tend to constrict our pelvic floor. As a result, many people hold stress and trauma in this area, leading to various conditions and syndromes affecting the pelvis, reproductive system, and urinary system. When somatic practitioners work with these areas through touch (with the client’s permission), it helps the body stop constricting, feel seen, expand, release stored survival trauma energy, and regulate. This touch-based work can assist in reorganizing the body’s systems to function more coherently, ultimately supporting the client’s healing process..How does Somatic Healing relate to our Nervous System and Biological System Regulation?Somatic healing focuses on how trauma and chronic stress negatively impact the body and brain, particularly how they dysregulate the autonomic nervous system—the system responsible for fight, flight, or freeze responses, also referred to as survival physiology. The autonomic nervous system controls essential functions like heart rate, breathing, and organ function. It is our lifeline, always operating and responding to stress and threats automatically to help us survive.Because this system is biological, it adapts over time, becoming a reflexive way of managing stress, often based on past experiences or unconscious socialization. We typically handle stress in ways that have worked before for us or in ways we’ve been conditioned to respond. Additionally, we learn to manage stress from our caregivers, whose nervous systems, often unconsciously, influence how children develop their own stress responses..How does Somatic Healing help us in Building Capacity and Resilience?Trauma fragments us and keeps us stuck in survival physiology (fight, flight, freeze), where fear and a sense of unsafety take over. As mentioned earlier, trauma and chronic stress dysregulate our nervous system. However, they also affect other biological systems. For example, the immune, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal systems can all be negatively impacted, throwing our entire biological organism into dysregulation due to the chronic stress and trauma stored in the body.When our stress response is activated, our bodies and brains release stress hormones and neurotransmitters that help mobilize us into fight or flight to survive a potential threat. The main stress hormone is cortisol, while the key neurotransmitters are epinephrine and norepinephrine, also known as adrenaline. These chemicals increase heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels and are released into the bloodstream when a threat is perceived..To respond to the threat, the body automatically pulls resources from systems like the immune system and redirects energy to the musculoskeletal system to prepare for fleeing or fighting. The body interprets stress as a threat. While these biochemicals are designed to work in harmony with our physiology in the short term, prolonged secretion can become problematic. Over time, this can wreak havoc on the body, leading to overproduction of inflammation, which results in chronic pain, syndromes, illnesses, and disease.Trauma is, therefore, physiological and stored in the body, meaning that healing trauma must focus on the body, not solely the mind, as was previously believed. In somatic healing, the practitioner guides the client to gradually reconnect with their body, creating a sense of relative safety. The practitioner helps the client identify resourceful areas of the body that can support the healing of parts where survival energy is stuck and has caused dysregulation and rigidity.Additionally, the practitioner assists the individual in building the capacity to tolerate intense sensations that may feel too uncomfortable to confront and be with, as well as emotions that seem overwhelming or frightening. By guiding the individual somatically, the practitioner fosters more flexibility in the person's system, allowing them to feel safer..With a few months of consistent work—since healing should be slow and deliberate to avoid retraumatization—the individual becomes more curious and able to engage with uncomfortable sensations and emotions. This process helps them develop greater resilience and heal the parts of themselves that were stuck, shut down, or locked in survival physiology, that stayed in the familiar and developed maladaptive and destructive patterns..Dr. Peter Levine, the founder of Somatic Experiencing, studied animals in the wild to understand how they manage the constant stress of being prey or having to fight off predators. He discovered that the physiology of these animals becomes charged up and activated with the biological stress/threat response of fight, flight, or freeze. If the animal cannot fight or flee, then the organism shuts down into freeze but with the same intense charge until it receives a biological cue that the threat has passed. Once the threat is gone, the organism (or animal) metabolizes the charged survival energy through shaking and trembling, a process known as discharge. Humans require a similar type of discharge after experiencing overwhelming threats, including crying, yawning or laughing. When survival energy gets stuck in the body and is not discharged, it creates Trauma..How does Somatic Healing help with Triggers?Trauma keeps people frozen in time, causing them to relive the traumatic experience repeatedly and unconsciously whenever they encounter a sensation, smell, or feeling that reminds the body or brain of the event. This phenomenon is known as a trigger. Triggers activate the stress/threat response in the body each time the person is exposed to them.Somatic healing assists biological systems in processing, metabolizing, discharging, and releasing stored survival energy that has been held in the body over the long term. This process helps restore nervous system regulation, allowing individuals to return to a healthier baseline and their own personal homeostasis..SPECIAL OFFER FROM IFÉ MORA!Go to her website’s “let’s chat” contact page and sign up to be in touch with her. She will send you a FREE Somatic Meditation that will help them to begin understanding how to self-regulate their nervous system!.CLICK HERE TO GO TO HER CONTACT PAGE AND SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE SOMATIC MEDITATION FROM IFÉ MORA!
